1. Field
The instant invention relates to the production concurrently, strong acids via electrolysis of a sodium salt in an electrolytic cell.
2. State of the Art
Electrolytic cells employing composite polymeric membranes are presently utilized to produce caustic solutions. Exemplary of such electrolytic cells are those disclosed in an article entitled "Use Electrodialytic Membranes for Waste Recovery," Nicholas Basta, Chemical Engineering, Mar. 3, 1986 and an article entitled "The Behavior of Ion Exchange Membranes in Electrolysis and Electrodialysis of Sodium Sulphate," J. Jorissen and K. H. Simmrock, Journal of Applied Electrochemistry 1991. Such cells have polymeric membranes which are not efficient at higher concentrations of caustic and acid as well as at higher conversion ratios of salt to acid although being resistant to strongly acidic and basic solutions. The operational life of such polymeric membranes is very sensitive to impurity contaminations. For example, such cells are limited generally to caustic production of a maximum concentration of about 20% and to salt to acid conversion of about 50%. Higher caustic concentrations or salt to acid conversion severely limit the efficiency of the process. For instance, at a fifty percent conversion of salt to acid, the current or energy efficiency is only about sixty percent.